December 13, 2010
Abbey Jenkins, PharmD, a community pharmacy resident at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy, has received a $2,500 grant from the Community Pharmacy Foundation for a research project looking at whether pharmacist intervention can help improve pneumococcal vaccination rates for the elderly.
The project, titled “Determining Pneumococcal Vaccination Rates after a Pharmacist Conducted Medication Therapy Review (MTR),” will be conducted at two rural community pharmacies and a private physician practice. A pharmacist will conduct MTRs for patients 65 years and older who are Medicare part D beneficiaries and are patients of the pharmacies or referred by the physician. The pharmacist will ask patients about their vaccination history during the MTR. If a patient is unsure or has not received the pneumococcal vaccine, the pharmacist will follow up with the patient’s primary care provider via fax to ask if the patient has received the vaccine and, if not, whether the vaccine should be administered at the physician’s office or at the pharmacy. The study will compare the vaccination rates after the MTR to national, state, and county rates. In 2009, 69.9 percent of patients surveyed who were 65 years or older had received a pneumonia vaccine, which is slightly higher than the national rate of 68.5 percent.
Jenkins is completing her residency as a staff pharmacist at Carolina Apothecary in Reidsville, North Carolina. Co-investigators on the project include Nathan Hemberg, PharmD, Jenkin’s preceptor at Carolina Apothecary; Stefanie Ferreri, PharmD, director of the School’s Community Pharmacy Residency Program; and Macacy Marciniak, PharmD, assistant director of the residency program.
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